Englewood, New Jersey, April 22, 2024
Photo: antiochian.org The Antiochian Women organization of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America has received a generous matching donation pledge to benefit widowed clergy wives.
Antiochian Women, founded in 1973, aims “to develop among the women a spirit of Christian leadership, awareness, and commitment; to foster a genuine expression of love and service through works of charity; and to install a sense of fellowship and a deeper understanding of our Holy Orthodox Faith.”
Every year, the organization runs a different project, and this year the women are establishing an endowment fund for widowed khourias, for which an anonymous donor has pledged a matching donation of up to $150,00, reports the Antiochian Archdiocese.
The Antiochian Women national organization is calling on all parish organizations to contribute to the project through fundraisers and contributions.
In his letter for March, Antiochian Women's Month in the Archdiocese, Metropolitan Saba advised:
As we approach Great Lent, with its many services and other responsibilities for our priests, let us not forget how their wives make this ministry possible: the priest is able to conduct services, to teach us, to hear our confessions, and all the rest because his wife manages so many other family needs; moreover, priests' wives themselves bless our parishes as gifted choir directors, teachers, organizers, and counselors and in so many other capacities. Let us show gratitude for all these blessings by remembering these women in their retirement—all the more so, since caring for widows has been laid down as a test of true faith. For the scriptures declare this: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27).
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